In the blades pr prior known indoor bandy sticks, the position of reinforcing ribs is such that there is no satisfactory contact between blade and ball. After all, the ribbing is designed primarily in view of the structural qualities and appearance of a blade. A relatively close or dense ribbing, in which, furthermore, the distance of a centre rib from the bottom edge of a blade is typically equal to the ball radius, creates one loading point at the contact point between ball and blade. FIG. 1 illlustrates how a thin-walled plastic ball bounces as a result of such contact so that the ball buckles inwards at the point of loading. This results in a loss of energy, which reduces the ball take-off speed.
Finnish utility model 1279 discloses an indoor bandy stick, including a blade in the form of a frame which defines a continuous large opening in the middle. When advancing forward, the ball is indeed firmly held by the grip of the blade. On the other hand, when struck by the blade, the ball often bounces uncontrollably in unpredictable directions since the ball and the blade should always meet each other at a certain level in order to achieve a double contact with the blade frame. In practice, it is often the case that the ball or the blade is off the floor and do not come together at the required level. Another problem is how to produce a sufficiently strong blade with a structure in the form of a mere frame or rim. For the above reasons, the invention is based on a blade structure including both lengthwise and crosswise reinforcing ribs.